Now I normally don't start decorating for any season until its officially arrived- in fact when I began so early both of my daughters said "Who are you and what have you done with our mother" - for example Fall is the end of September beginning of October and Christmas is December 1st. I have stuck by this for years and had no intention of changing until I came across a couple of fall decor items at Big Lots.
It began with the pumpkin pillow shown above and wreath pictured below, I found the pillow first and thought it was really cute. I loved the simple design and the colors were on the muted side plus they went with my normal decor color - yes "Little Sis" there is brown in there. I also want to mention I don't normally do seasonal pillows but something about this one just said "Buy Me".
The same thing occurred when I came across the wreath, again as with the pillow a simple design and the colors were perfect - just looked like fall - and the burlap bow well that's really what sold it. I spent about a week going back and forth about purchasing either of these, there are some things that I prefer to actually hold in my hand before buying, however as you can see I bit the bullet and bought both.
When they came I loved them both, so much so I decided to purchase two more. As it worked out my oldest daughter and I went shopping for Birthday decorations - our "Handsome Little Man" is turning One in a couple of weeks - and there was a Big Lots in the same shopping plaza. They had more of the wreaths however not the same pumpkin pillow. Not to worry as I found another pillow I liked a lot and bought that, besides I didn't really need two of the same thing "Right", sounded reasonable to me at the time and I'm sticking to it.
Pictured above is the other pillow from Big Lots, its on our loveseat paired with a plaid throw from Wal-Mart and two linen button pillows. Before moving on I'd like to talk a little bit about the button pillows, those are pillow covers which is another thing I've never used but have now gotten into - Oh boy, "Danger Will Robinson". This came about because of something else I bought while in Big Lots that day with my daughter.
The two button pillows on the sofa were a purchase from Big Lots and I love them. After getting them home I decided I wanted two more for the love seat, I'm trying to lighten up all the brown - yes "Little Sis" I can hear you snickering - but I didn't want to spend the money on two more actual pillows. While poking around on Amazon I came across a good deal on linen button pillow covers, it included two covers for the same price of one normal pillow, so again I bit the bullet and bought them, glad I did as they worked out perfectly.
Of course you have to know I didn't stop there, I wanted something fall looking for our bedroom and as I still had more small brown pillows - I'm sure you know where this is going - I bought two more covers. I love the sunflower one it's got a heavy tapestry feel to it and the other is just something fun for a chair in the room.
Before moving on I want to tell a little story, a few years ago I began purging seasonal decor - you know old or broken things and stuff I just didn't like and didn't know what I was thinking when it was bought - well last year I realized I didn't really have a lot in the way of Fall Decor, so on a shopping trip with both my daughters I looked for some new things. Well it was the beginning of October so of course I expected to find stuff - silly me - and I did find things however it was all for Christmas.
I really shouldn't have been surprised about this as I wrote a post about the shrinking time between holidays and seasons but was surprised just the same. Long story short I made due with what I had at the time and this year got smart and started looking for decor items early.
The arrangement above is made up of things I already had and sits on one of the end tables in the livingroom. The wax burner - a Christmas gift from one of my daughters - is one of several burners throughout our home. Not sure what was melting in it - this picture was taken a few days ago - could have been Cinnamon & Spice, Apple Pumpkin - from Better Homes & Gardens - or Country Store from McCall's.
I saved this for last as I think it's my favorite of all the decor. I bought everything separate - grapevine wreath, all the floral material and the wooden letter - for about $13 from Wal-Mart, put it together and hung it on our front door.
Because I incorporate seasonal and holiday decor into my normal things I don't like to over decorate - not to mention it begins to look cluttered which is something that drives me crazy - so I think our homes fall decorating is done. But never say never because it's possible I might notice a spot that just needs something.
Mums and pumpkins for outside is the next place for fall touches but that is going to wait for a bit and I'm not budging on that "Really".
Follow-Up: The weather here has begun to get cooler, last nights low was 42°. I guess that proves my theory on decorating works, or it could just be a well timed coincidence.
